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Mário Pires Cordeiro
Artist Mario Pires Cordeiro in front of his piece SF No. 1 Cordeiro in 2017
Born	1975 Lisbon, Portugal
Nationality	Portuguese
Education	University of the Arts London, Faculdade de Belas Artes de Lisboa, College of Theatre and Cinema

Mário Pires Cordeiro (born 1975) is a visual artist from Portugal. Now based in San Francisco, he works with a variety of media from painting and woodworking to film and 3D printing. Cordeiro’s art develops the relationship between fine art and design, commenting on the interaction between visual art and functional products through experimentation in media and color. His main focus is color, unpacking the symbolic and cultural meaning imposed on color in contemporary society while utilizing color trends to anticipate the trajectories of today’s chromatic practices.

Early Life

Cordeiro was born in Lisbon, Portugal. He grew up in Alcácer do Sal, a small town outside of Lisbon with a population of 13,000 He was the only child to parents Hermína and José Cordeiro. As an only child, Cordeiro spent much of his time alone. He developed an interest in construction, using leftover construction materials from the developing town to build small urban cityscapes as entertainment. He also found himself drawing often.

During his childhood, Cordeiro’s mother, Hermína, experienced a serious depression that lasted for four years. His father, Jose, spent his time managing the finances at a tomato juice factory and at other side jobs on weekends, leaving Cordeiro to care for his mother.

When he turned fifteen, after his mother had recovered, Cordeiro moved to the nearby town of Evora and began to work part time at his father’s tomato juice factory, doing quality control on the tomatoes.

While working for his father, Cordeiro took his first art class from Antonio Coxo, who introduced him to art, its history, and its context in the modern world. He then began his formal introduction to the art world. He visited Lisbon more often to expose himself to contemporary art.

Education

Cordeiro first attended the Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema, where he studied set design. There he was able to experiment with materials like polystyrene and resins, learning new and unconventional set design techniques and investigating the way different textures interact with the lighting of a given set. He explored the concept of using space to bring to life the inner workings of theatrical characters, bringing his artistic practice into a fairly analytical dimension. He began to more actively collaborate with other creatives in the performances and short films of his fellow students.

By the time Mário graduated from the College of Theater and Cinema in 1998, he had designed the sets for ten independent productions as well as the costumes and occasional puppetry for a number of productions.

Upon his graduation, Cordeiro was accepted to study sculpture at the Faculdade de Belas Artes de Lisboa. He spent two years studying sculpture at the Faculdade where he explored concepts of traditional sculpture, but felt limited by the sculpture department’s conservatism. He began to exhibit his work in professional spheres, participating actively in the art scene.

Cordeiro then switched into the painting department in order to experiment further with spacial work. His art during this time is defined by minimalist installations following in the footsteps of Richard Serra and an simplicity in his materials. He used very few colors, working mostly with greys, and uses a variety of media from graphite powder and olive oil to wax and found objects.

While attending school and operating as a fine artist, Mário worked a side job as an art consultant for national economic newspaper Semanário Económico, advising on what art exhibits to attend and artists to invest in.

After graduating, Cordeiro was awarded a residency in England at the University of Hertfordshire as the Leonardo Da Vinci Grant Recipient. He then went on to pursue an MFA at Chelsea College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London. He studied through scholarships from the Gulbenkian Foundation and the Carmona and Costa Foundation. After achieving his MFA, Cordeiro went on to complete three years of a PhD program at the University of the Arts researching color trends.

Color Trends

Cordeiro works intimately with color in his work. He typically takes from various color forecasts for interior or product design and utilizes those colors in abstract pieces that comment on the nature of our engagement with color.

He began to focus his work aggressively on color trends after encountering the International Colour Authority catalogue of 2004 while researching for his MFA. The oddity of color categorization and prediction absorbed him and now defines his artistic practice.

Cordeiro utilizes color in order to speak to cultural and societal applications of meaning and the changing tastes of color according to a given time. He uses color forecasts, including those made by the International Colour Authority, in order to choose the palettes of his works, juxtaposing modern chromatic attitudes with different times, ideas, cultures, and landscapes. This approach to color has opened up different ways of understanding identity in terms of color and color combinations, which he develops in his modern works.

London

While in London studying for his MFA and PhD, Cordeiro actively participated in the London Art scene. London would become the location of Cordeiro’s first experiments with color. After his encounter with the International Colour Authority’s catalogue, Mário got in touch with Bill Benjamin, director of the International Colour Authority. They begin a working relationship that develops Cordeiro’s new approach to color more clearly. He gained momentum in producing artworks using color forecasts and expanded his art to more aggressively address design.

In 2009, Cordeiro met curator and artist Anthony Gross and began to engage with the London alternative art scene through their working relationship. Gross invited him to join in his effort to build the artist community and gallery The Old Police Station. Cordeiro accepted and worked as a manager, curator, and organizer, bringing to life the artistic vision of creative collaboration on a large scale. Cordeiro began collaborating with artists and curating in art festivals such as Deptford X.

San Francisco

In 2015, Cordeiro immigrated to San Francisco, where he currently operates his own studio MPC Studio. He continues his research into color. His art is at a stage of much more ambitious investigations of color, space, and societal engagement with both. He collaborates with model makers, designers, art assistants, and writers in order to bring his visions to life.

Cordeiro also curates for the Oakland art nonprofit The Crucible for their annual gallery exhibition that funds the Crucible’s art education programs for the community. They’ve invited him back to curate for three consecutive years.

Sexuality

While Cordeiro’s homosexuality does not often reveal itself as a thematic motif in his art, it has played a large role in his artistic development. He remained closeted until the age of twenty-nine, having grown up in a family and culture of conservatism outside of his later experiences in large urban centers. His father passed away from cancer before Cordeiro came out to him and his mother at first rejected him for his sexuality once he did come out.

Cordeiro’s exploration of color coincided with his coming out as a gay man more openly.

Work

Cordeiro’s early works show his interest in lighting and the simplicity of space, having developed those skills while studying set design. One of his earliest works was a series of drawings using graphite and olive oil called Landscape Collection, where he portrayed interstellar imagery. He continued these themes in his light installation Mars, focusing on celestial and large scale works depicting larger-than-life visuals.

After his interests turned to color, Cordeiro began taking on larger scale projects. He made a film series called Assault where he filmed himself and a partner bringing their art to interact with famous artworks in museums. He was commissioned by the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012 for the London Olympics. He also received two residencies from the Cape Farewell Foundation.

Awards

• Commission by the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games Committee
• Commission by the Cape Farewell Foundation
• Leonardo d’ Vinci Grant Award, University of Hertfordshire
• Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Grant
• Arts Council England Awards for Artists